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There are 2 main teams in Staffordshire - the Surge (who are the County team) and the Stallions (who are the University team).

The Surge was formed in 1994 as the successor to the Stoke Spitfires who'd been in existence since 1985. They currently play in Division 1 of the north league of the British American Football League (BAFL) and have players from right across the Midlands and Cheshire of all ages and abilities.

Training sessions are held at Staffordshire University in Stoke with home games at Shobnall Leisure Complex in Burton on Trent.

The Stallions are a member of the British Universities American Football League (BUAFL)'s Northern Conference-Midland Division.

Although never being national champions, they have been successful throughout their history, finishing with a losing record only 4 times in 15 seasons.

The most famous player to have played for the Stallions, is former NFL running back Jermaine Allen who was on the books of the New Orleans Saints & Chicago Bears.

Contact sport

There's often quite violent body contact so padding and helmets are vital. Lightweight plastic shells cover the shoulders and give the players that pumped-up look.

There's also equipment to protect thighs, hips, shoulders and knees. There can be quite a risk of injuries. The most common are to the head, neck and spine.

Knees and shoulders can also be damaged. On rare occasions players are killed - there are on average eight deaths a year in the USA! But don't let that put you off.

American football can be an expensive sport to get into - You could find yourself forking out 拢115 for shoulder pads, 拢100 for a helmet and another 拢50 for gloves, hand and arm pads.

Balls start at 拢25 and pants and shirt at 拢30. But there are specialist sites on the internet where you can buy this stuff, and the clubs may be able to lend you some equipment.

That was back in 1879. The sport came to Europe after World War Two with the first tournament being played between NATO teams in 1972.

The Superbowl is the showpiece game of the season in the NFL, and for British fans a regular season game is now played at Wembley Stadium every year. The first of these was in 2007 when the New Yourk Giants took on the Miami Dolphins.

In 2009, 2 recent Superbowl champions will play one another at Wembley when the New England Patriots meet the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.